Duty Drawback & RoDTEP claim on post export with Free shipping Bill

[Niruban Chakravarthy]

Dear Experts,

We have exported a shipment under Free shipping bill in the year 2023. now can we convert the Free shipping bill into Duty Drawback & RoDTEP scheme under sec.149 of Customs Act 1962.

The Customs Location where the export was made is not registered with AD Code for claiming Export benefits then (in 2023), Our Customs Broker suggested export the shipment under Free SB mode, Since the order was most urgent, and we have very short time to ship the consignment, we did this without completing the AD code registration.

The Export was made under LUT.

please advise whether we are eligible or is this possible to claim.

AI Summary

Post-export Shipping Bill amendment may support Duty Drawback and RoDTEP claims where contemporaneous evidence establishes export-benefit eligibility.
Post-export amendment of a Free Shipping Bill under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, may enable claims for Duty Drawback and RoDTEP if documentary evidence supporting eligibility existed at export. Duty Drawback has a comparatively stronger basis, despite possible objections based on departmental time limits. RoDTEP is more fact-sensitive because the relevant declaration should ordinarily appear in the Shipping Bill. Non-registration of an AD Code is not necessarily a substantive disqualification. The amendment request should be supported by the Shipping Bill, export records, incentive details, and contemporaneous evidence explaining the procedural omission.